A Year-by-Year Look At The Pro Football Hall of Fame Senior Finalists

This week's announcement of Drew Pearson as the senior finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2021 got me thinking about the history of the senior finalists.

The senior finalist was known as the "old-timer candidate" until 1990.

Here's a year-by-year look at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Senior Finalist.

Those elected are indicated in CAPS.

1972 – ACE PARKER

1973 – Ole Haugsrud

1974 – TONY CANADEO

1975 – No senior candidate selected.

1976 – RAY FLAHERTY

1977 – BILL WILLIS

1978 – TUFFY LEEMANS

1979 – Marshall Goldberg

1980 – Lou Creekmur

1981 – RED BADGRO

1982 – GEORGE MUSSO

1983 – Mac Speedie

1984 – ARNIE WEINMEISTER

1985 – FRANK GATSKI

1986 – DOAK WALKER

1987 – JOHN HENRY JOHNSON

1988 – Lou Rymkus

1989 – Henry Jordan

1990 – BOB ST. CLAIR

1991 – STAN JONES

1992 – Willie Galimore

1993 – Dick Stanfel

1994 – LEROY KELLY

1995 – HENRY JORDAN

1996 – LOU CREEKMUR

1997 – Jerry Kramer

1998 – TOMMY McDONALD

1999 – BILLY SHAW

2000 – DAVE WILCOX

2001 – NICK BUONICONTI

2002 – GEORGE ALLEN

2003 – HANK STRAM

2004 – BOB BROWN, Bob Hayes

2005 – BENNY FRIEDMAN, FRITZ POLLARD

2006 – JOHN MADDEN, RAYFIELD WRIGHT

2007 – GENE HICKERSON, CHARLIE SANDERS

2008 – Marshall Goldberg, EMMITT THOMAS

2009 – BOB HAYES, Claude Humphrey

2010 – DICK LeBEAU, FLOYD LITTLE

2011 – CHRIS HANBURGER, LES RICHTER

2012 – JACK BUTLER, Dick Stanfel

2013 – CURLEY CULP, DAVE ROBINSON

2014 – RAY GUY, CLAUDE HUMPHREY

2015 – MICK TINGELHOFF

2016 – KEN STABLER, DICK STANFEL

2017 – KENNY EASLEY

2018 – ROBERT BRAZILE, JERRY KRAMER

2019 – JOHNNY ROBINSON

2020 – Cliff Branch, HAROLD CARMICHAEL, JIMBO COVERT, Roger Craig, BOBBY DILLON, LaVern Dilweg, Ox Emerson, Randy Gradishar, CLIFF HARRIS, WINSTON HILL, Cecil Isbell, ALEX KARRAS, Verne Lewellen, Tommy Nobis, Drew Pearson, DONNIE SHELL, DUKE SLATER, MAC SPEEDIE, ED SPRINKLE, Al Wistert

***

With the exception of 1975, at least one senior finalist has been chosen every year since 1972. Prior to the giant Centennial Class of 2020, there had been 52 senior finalists. 47 of those finalists were inducted, or eventually inducted, into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That left five senior finalists that failed to eventually make it to Pro Football Hall of Fame induction.

Ole Haugsrud
Marshall Goldberg
Mac Speedie
Lou Rymkus
Willie Galimore

Mac Speedie, after being the senior finalist in 1983, finally made it as a member of the Centennial Class.

Others that made it as a repeat senior finalist.
Lou Creekmur-missed it in 1980, made it in 1996
Henry Jordan-missed it in 1989, made it in 1995
Dick Stanfel-missed it in 1993 and 2012, made it in 2016
Jerry Kramer-missed it in 1997, made it in 2018
Bob Hayes-missed it in 2004, made it in 2009
Claude Humphrey-missed it in 2009, made it in 2014

Stanfel lived through being denied twice. He died a couple months before being named a finalist for a third time and about seven months before finally making it to Canton.

In nearly fifty years of senior finalists, only four have failed to make it to Canton.

Ole Haugsrud
Marshall Goldberg
Lou Rymkus
Willie Galimore

Marshall Goldberg has been denied twice. Ole Huagsrud, Lou Rymkus, and Willie Gallimore have been denied once. It was a mild surprise that none of the four, especially Goldberg, were in the running for the Centennial Class.

The Centennial Class changed the senior numbers dramatically. Ten finalists making it meant ten finalists not making it. Of the ten that didn't make it, Drew Pearson has a real good shot as the senior finalist for the Class of 2021. He's the first to be named a finalist in consecutive years.

If I were to be so bold as to rank the 13 senior finalists that have yet to make it to Canton, that ranking might look something like this:

1.   LaVern Dilweg
2.   Verne Lewellen
3.   Ox Emerson
4.   Al Wistert
5.   Marshall Goldberg
6.   Cecil Isbell
7.   Cliff Branch
8.   Randy Gradishar
9.   Tommy Nobis
10. Roger Craig
11. Willie Gallimore
12. Lou Rymkus
13. Ole Haugsrud

I left Drew Pearson off the list simply because I think that he sails through the voting process on the eve of Super Bowl LV.

I'm usually of the opinion that the players that have been waiting the longest are the most deserving. Fritz Pollard, Benny Friedman, and Duke Slater should've each been a member of one of the first dozen Hall classes. The voters have skipped and continue to skip on several great players from the early decades of the NFL. The fact that it took a giant Centennial Class to finally get Slater into the Pro Football Hall of Fame is definitive proof that the voters aren't doing right by the "old-timers." Nearly all of the most-talked about snubs played in the 1960s and 1970s. Take care of the greats that have waited the longest. They are the most deserving.